Hope this is in the right category. I found this interesting and thought some of you might also. If I ever get chased by the police, I hope they are on a Harley and not a BMW! I wouldn't have a chance either way but hey, a guy can hope for the best, right?

BMW vs. Harley-Davidson:
Michigan State Police Evaluates Police Bikes

Official Michigan State Government Report
Reported by Craig Fitzgerald, Hemming's Motor News:

Motorcycle guys are more than willing to defend the merits of their specific brands, but it’s not often that you get fair, unbiased testing conducted by a state agency that actually lays out money for the vehicles. The Michigan State Police recently made such testing public, as it embarked upon an evaluation program for its upcoming purchase of a fleet of motorcycles.

The Harley Davidson Road King and FLHTP were evaluated against the BMW R1200RT-P. All three bikes are the most commonly used police machines in the country. Michigan State Police evaluated the motorcycles' performance in handling, braking, acceleration and top speed, as well as the ability to cope with all the special communications and emergency warning needs of the Michigan State Police. Tests were conducted at the DaimlerChrysler Proving Grounds in Chelsea, Michigan.

The results of the testing were dramatic. The BMW was able to negotiate the nine-turn, six-lap handling course as much as 32 seconds faster than the FLHTP Electra Glide. Acceleration and top speed tests also went to the BMW, which achieved a top speed of 130 mph, vs. Harley Davidson's 103 and 107 top speeds. In the quarter mile, the BMW accelerated at least a second and a half faster than the Harley, at a speed 8-mph faster. From 60 miles per hour, the BMW stopped an amazing 21 feet sooner than either of the Harley Davidsons, or approximately a car-length and a half.

Full results of the test are available on the state of Michigan's Web site.
Full Report

- By Craig Fitzgerald, Hemming's Motor News

makes you wonder why you would ever consider any other bike than a BMW....even if its not a locally produced ride....had there been some Buells perhaps it would have been a closer competition.

Seemed a bit oxymoronic to me, putting Harley Davidson and New Technologies together.

The New South Wales Police have a couple of Harley's at the moment for evaluation. I think the idea is to use them for ceremonial duties. From what I have heard the riders don't like them, I think one is sitting with a blown head gasket so someone has been giving it a bit of a caning!!

Here is a photo

Great, I forwarded the article to 3 friends:
2 riding HD and one selling his K100rt because he just bought a brand new r1200rt.
I am waiting for the answer.

Bit like running a comparison on a V10 turbo M5 and a Fiat Topilino.